The Trip Home
by Duskio
Summary: After Peach's rescue on the Moon, Mario and Peach reflect on the botched proposal. A short story about Mario and Peach's ride home from the moon. Takes place after Super Mario Odyssey's ending. Written for Mar10 Day 2020.


The trip home was a long one, but one full of chatter as Mario and Cappy told the story of their adventures together and Peach and Tiara shared their point of view and how Bowser had been treating them through the journey.

However, the Odyssey had fallen quiet after dropping off Cappy and Tiara in Bonneton, the hum of the ship's engines being the only thing breaking the silence in the cabin.

Mario stared out the window of the Odyssey as he reflected on his behavior on the moon earlier. It was the perfect chance for a romantic proposal, but he let his ego get in the way of it and boy did he feel stupid for it.

The plumber scratched his mustache as he thought back to how angry Peach had been. To say he hadn't seen her so angry before would have been a lie, but it was the first time that it had ever been directed at him, and that shook him to his core.

If only Bowser hadn't been there at the time, maybe things would have turned out different. Mario thought, but he knew blaming Bowser wasn't going to help things. It was his own behavior that messed things up. He let his competitive streak take over and nothing would do him but to shove the koopa king out of the way in an effort to appeal to his love.

The princess watched from one of the chairs in the center of the craft, she felt bad about being as mean as she was, but a foot needed to be put down before things got out of hand.

Part of her really wished that the proposal went off without a hitch, but she wasn't quite sure what her answer would have been at the time. She likely would have said yes, but thinking on it now, the kingdom's laws and all the drama and celebration of the engagement would have been such a massive hassle, and she was sure she didn't want to deal with that right now. No, she wanted a vacation. A proper one. In a way, she was quite relieved Bowser had intervened when he did.

Nonetheless, she was sure that she'd hurt Mario and she needed to address that.

Glancing around the cabin of the Odyssey only made her feel more guilty. There were many souvenirs decorating the ship top to bottom. All the places Mario had visited to try to save her...

Peach sighed and took to her feet, climbing the large steps up to the window Mario was at.

"Mario?"

"Hmm?" Mario was snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of her voice. "You need something Princess?"

Peach shook her head and gave him a smile. "I simply wanted to talk with you Mario…"

"Oh?" Mario scooted to one side of the window and smiled at her, "Well have a seat if you'd like…"

"Thank you." Peach said as she took her seat next to her hero.

"So what's on your mind?" Mario asked, running a hand through his hair, absentmindedly trying to look more presentable for her.

"Well…" She paused to think about her words for a moment, "I wanted to talk about what happened back on the moon…"

Mario visibly wilted upon hearing her. "Oh?"

"N-no no it's nothing bad!" She reassured him, "It's just…"

"I'm sorry…" They both said.

Blinking, Mario quirked a brow. "You're sorry? What for..? I was the one that was so pushy… I didn't think about how you'd feel and…"

"And I didn't think about how you'd feel either." Peach replied, looking aside while playing with her brooch. "I didn't even get to thank you for rescuing me…"

Mario stared in surprise.

"I… Well…" He stammered trying to think of what to say. "It's… It's ok, I was more concerned about you… I'm sorry that I acted like such a jerk."

Peach smiled, "It's okay, just…" She scratched her cheek as she looked aside, "Just don't take my putting a stop to that the wrong way."

Mario caught her drift and blushed.

"I'm just sorry that it had to turn out that way…" Peach said, looking back to Mario.

"It's ok…" Mario chuckled as he looked back out the window at the starry sky above the Mushroom Kingdom. It was then he felt a hand on his cheek, turning his head and then…

Mario's eyes widened as Peach pressed her soft lips to his. His eyes fluttered shut as he returned the kiss, embracing the princess as he did. After a moment, they broke the kiss and gave shy smiles.

Mario tried to find his words before Peach spoke.

"Thank you, Mario…"

"Anytime, la mia principessa..."


End file.
